While sifting through the board book boat they have at our library last week, I came across quite the gem titled I Love My Hair. I plopped it in Abs' library shopping cart (they have kiddie sized carts and it is soooo cute!!... gotta love a library!!) along with the other books and didn't really give it a second thought.
Later that night, I was reading it to Abs and fell in love with that book, page after page. What a great resource for me, as a white mother reading to her black daughter, about a subject I know very little about: black hair.
It made me wonder what other great books I might not know about that might help with my kids understanding when it comes to race and adoption.
I thought I would highlight a few great books that were given to us that we just love. I'll link each one to amazon to make it super easy for you to gift one of these books to a friend who is adopting.
My all-time favorite book on the subject of adoption is A Blessing from Above, and Abs absolutely loves it too. I bawled my eyes out the first time I read it. It's a Little Golden Book, so I was (pleasantly) surprised to see a Bible verse about adoption on the title page.
It's about a kangaroo with an empty pouch (yes, cue my infertility water works) who sadly sits under a tree one day, all alone. From an overcrowded nest of bluebirds falls a baby bird, right into Mama Roo's pouch.
The storyline sweetly covers all angles from Mama Roo's loneliness to the Mama Bird's happiness that her baby bird will be safe and loved. It is an easy segue into a conversation with Abs about her story. Love this book.
Another great adoption book is I Love You like Crazy Cakes which is specifically about an adoption from China, but it's still a great resource for working through the adoption process with your kids.
It's written from the point-of-view of a mother's journey to China to bring home her daughter and all that this process entails. You feel the hope and joy of the mother and the support of her family and friends when she brings her baby girl home.
This next book isn't particularly about adoption, but about being different. Sesame Street's We're Different, We're the Same is a super cute way to help your little one understand that even though their eyes, hair, skin, are different, we're all the same in that our eyes help us all see, our noses help us smell good food, etc. All children would benefit from this book, not just adopted kiddos.
I'm bummed my list of recommended books only consists of FOUR. What books have you guys found that help with adoption and multicultural issues? Please share your great finds!
2 comments:
We also like Love You Like Crazy Cakes, I Love My Hair, and We're Different We're the Same. Some other excellent ones are A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza, On the Far Side of Poplar Pond by Anjanette Walchshauser, and How I Was Adopted by Joanna Cole. And Chosen by Love by Tom Jaski for when they're a little older.
Hey Tricia! I'm catching up on your adoption blog...thank you so much for sharing your heart! This is not about adoption, but I take care of lots of black women and kids with hair issues in my clinic, and if you have not watched it, you need to watch "Good Hair". It's a Chris Rock documentary on black hair...it is hilarious and also super educational (and totally inappropriate for kids, by the way). I learned so much from it! I think it's on Netflix.
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